Medical dispensing systems are known in the prior art. Such systems are used for dispensing medications or other medical items to a health care provider or to a patient. Such systems also generally control the dispense of such items and track the use of medical items. An example of such system is shown in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/361,783 filed Dec. 16, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,409 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The disclosure of this Application is incorporated herein by reference.
In the use of systems for dispensing medical items it is possible to have a situation arise where an item previously taken for a patient is not used. In the system disclosed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/361,783, it is possible in some situations to return an item and to have the patient's account credited for the value of the item that has been returned. This is shown for medical items such as catheters.
When a medical item that has been previously dispensed and not used is a controlled substance, the return of such items must be carefully documented. The situation is further complicated where a portion of the medical item originally dispensed has been used. The unused portion must be accounted for and properly disposed of. It is also usually important to know why the entire dose of the substance dispensed was not used.
In the past, paper records were maintained concerning the return or waste of medical items. The item itself was also returned to the pharmacy or other department where it was matched up with the paper records to assure appropriate tracking.
Some unused medical items may be reused. This may occur when a medication has been refused by a patient or when the patient is transferred to another location prior to the medication being administered. In such circumstances there is no reason why the medication cannot be returned to inventory for dispense at a later date. However the tracking of the return as well as the crediting of the account of the patient for whom the medication was originally dispensed generally involves considerable effort.
Any unused medication that is a controlled substance must be held in a secure location until it can be taken by an authorized person. This is necessary to prevent pilferage or abuse. It is also desirable to avoid any confusion between the unused medications and other medications that are being prepared for administration to patients.
Thus there exists a need for an apparatus and method for accepting return of unused medical items, for holding such items in a secure location until they can be taken by an appropriate person, and for tracking the unused medical items and the circumstances associated with their return.